Lido Advisors LLC Raises Holdings in Southwest Airlines Co. $LUV

Lido Advisors LLC lifted its position in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 69.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 39,297 shares of the airline’s stock after purchasing an additional 16,078 shares during the quarter. Lido Advisors LLC’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $1,279,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its stake in Southwest Airlines by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 76,719 shares of the airline’s stock worth $2,576,000 after acquiring an additional 345 shares during the last quarter. ASR Vermogensbeheer N.V. bought a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $418,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 3.9% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,602,939 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $120,987,000 after purchasing an additional 136,410 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in Southwest Airlines by 18.3% in the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 783,225 shares of the airline’s stock worth $26,301,000 after purchasing an additional 120,982 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AlphaCore Capital LLC increased its position in Southwest Airlines by 4.3% in the first quarter. AlphaCore Capital LLC now owns 11,919 shares of the airline’s stock worth $402,000 after purchasing an additional 493 shares during the last quarter. 80.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $35.00 to $33.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 24th. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Monday. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Southwest Airlines currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $35.00.

Southwest Airlines Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:LUV opened at $35.80 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 12 month low of $23.82 and a 12 month high of $37.96. The company has a market capitalization of $18.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.07, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.17. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $32.72 and its 200 day moving average is $32.64.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The airline reported ($0.38) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The business had revenue of $6.17 billion for the quarter. Southwest Airlines had a net margin of 1.38% and a return on equity of 6.39%. Research analysts predict that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 EPS for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 26th will be paid a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 26th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 110.77%.

Southwest Airlines Company Profile

Southwest Airlines Co operates as a passenger airline company that provides scheduled air transportation services in the United States and near-international markets. As of December 31, 2023, the company operated a total fleet of 817 Boeing 737 aircraft; and served 121 destinations in 42 states, the District of Columbia, and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, as well as ten near-international countries, including Mexico, Jamaica, the Bahamas, Aruba, the Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, Belize, Cuba, the Cayman Islands, and Turks and Caicos.